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Record of Proceedings

Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Budget Presentation – February 26, 2025

Board of Supervisors — Wednesday, February 26, 2025

BodyAlbemarle County, Virginia

SessionBoard of Supervisors

DateWednesday, February 26, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:49:23

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Please call to order this meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on the 26th of February at noon at room 241 in the Albama County Office Building Tax Air Build.

0:10

Notice David, we have Supervisor Mike Rudolph Scott, Scotchville District, Supervisor G.

0:17

District, Supervisor Anthony Kill of Jack Jewett District, Supervisor Ned Galloway of the Rio District, Supervisor Ann Malik of the Whitehall District, and myself, Chimandries representing the Samuel Miller district, forums present.

0:28

We're also joined by our county executive, Mr.

0:33

Jeff Richardson, our deputy county executives, Mr.

0:35

Trevor Annie, law, our chief financial officer, James, our chief operating officer, Christie Shiffler.

0:45

I also want to welcome here.

0:48

I believe we have Albemar County Police Officers Present Officers Roxanne Kine and Stephen McCall.

0:55

We thank you for your service today and every day on behalf of the citizens of residents of Albemarle County.

1:01

Appreciate what you do for our safety and security.

1:04

With that, we will turn it over to Mr.

1:08

Richardson who will be presenting the 2526 recommended budget.

1:13

Welcome.

1:14

Mr.

1:15

Chair, thank you very much.

1:16

And board members, thank you.

1:18

Thank you for the your time today.

1:20

Not only today, but as you know, we've been working in earnest really since we uh put the last year's budget to bed.

1:26

Uh we started talking uh as recently as July or as far back as July, and we've worked our way through this year, and now we're at that point.

1:34

I'd also like to welcome our community that's here today, either in person or listening online.

1:40

Thank you for your interest in Albemar County government.

1:42

We appreciate your uh leaning in hard and connecting uh as today we talk about uh our recommended budget.

1:49

I also see key partner agencies in the room.

1:52

Uh, thank you for being here today, certainly our schools uh where we are attached at the hip uh on a day-to-day basis, and we appreciate everything that they do uh to make our community better.

2:03

Uh Mr.

2:03

Chair, thank you for recognizing the the staff across the front row.

2:07

I won't go back through, but we also have our budget team here today that has been working the entire year to get us to where we are, as well as our department heads uh who are connected, connected and hard.

2:19

At the end of today's presentation, I'm going to talk about what's next.

2:23

And uh I've got 36 slides that I will share with you today and walk you through the manager's recommended budget.

2:31

But but you'll see at the end of the meeting today, at least 16 opportunities.

2:36

16 opportunities with 16 public meetings.

2:40

That's that's what we know for sure at this time.

2:43

That's where we will invite our public in to listen, to learn, and to share at times their thoughts on this recommended budget.

2:52

This board leans in hard during the budget process with a number of dedicated work sessions, uh, looking more closely at what this budget offers, what's left out, and the board does a great job every year of asking questions and keeping staff on their toes.

3:09

So, with that, we'll start today.

3:10

And again, I appreciate the opportunity to be here in my eighth year as county executive.

3:17

It is an honor to serve this community.

3:20

So uh today's agenda.

3:22

Here's an overview of what I'll be covering today.

3:25

Uh, the first part really the strategic budgeting, it's how we approach budget development with an eye on our strategic plan.

3:33

The second part of the agenda is the trends, the drivers that we're seeing in our local economy combined with our revenues, our obligations, and we'll talk a little bit more about that.

3:44

The third part is key investments, and that's recommendations for initiatives and strategies as we go forward into next fiscal year.

3:54

And then finally, the fourth part will be next step wrap-up, making sure that the board and our community understands that today is really just the beginning of this process.

4:04

It lasts for several months.

4:06

Uh, and we're going to land this budget uh uh we hope on May the 7th this year.

4:11

So we're looking forward to the work that we have ahead of us with the board and with our community.

4:20

So, first part, strategic budgeting.

4:22

Let's take a closer look at what we consider when we say strategic budgeting.

4:30

I really like this slide.

4:31

And the reason that I like this slide is that I think that it represents lenses, and I'll use that term a lot today, lenses.

4:40

And what I'm asking for the board to consider is look through these three lenses.

4:45

I believe that these are the lenses that our community most oftentimes pick up when they think about local government.

4:52

They think about local government through an economic vibrancy lens, a service delivery lens, and a quality of life lens.

5:00

Let's take a second to explore just a little bit about economic vibrancy.

5:04

That's really the health and the competitive strength of our economy.

5:09

What does that look like?

5:10

What are attributes like?

5:12

Attributes would be job opportunities, our business environment, the sustainability of funding that would then go and pay for our local services that we provide.

5:24

Let's take a second look at service delivery.

5:26

What are we talking about?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Safety███████████████████████████27%

Fiscal Sustainability███████████████████████23%

Public Schools█████████9%

Procedural██████6%

Affordable Housing█████5%

Strategic Planning████4%

Fire And Rescue████4%

Public Transportation████4%

Public Works███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Budget Presentation – February 26, 2025

On February 26, 2025, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors met at 12:00 PM in Room 241 of the Albemarle County Office Building to receive the County Executive's recommended Fiscal Year 2026 budget. The meeting featured a detailed presentation by County Executive Jeff Richardson, followed by questions and comments from the Board. Key proposals include a four-cent real property tax increase (from 85.4 cents to 89.4 cents per $100 valuation), dedicated primarily to public safety, with portions for schools and affordable housing.

Discussion Items

Strategic Budgeting Overview: County Executive Jeff Richardson presented the budget through three lenses: economic vibrancy, service delivery, and quality of life. He emphasized that the budget is aligned with the county's five-year strategic plan and that local government cannot meet all needs alone, requiring strong partnerships.
Economic Trends and Revenue: The recommended general fund budget is $480.5 million, a 9.7% increase ($42.5 million) over the current year. Real property assessments rose 5.1% (residential 7.1%, commercial/commercial lower). The county faces a $13 million budget gap (3.1%) due to out-year obligations, including FEMA SAFER grants (four grants totaling $12.7 million) that now require local funding.
Recommended Tax Rate Increase: A dedicated four-cent increase to 89.4 cents per $100 valuation is proposed. Of this, 3.2 cents (80%) is dedicated to public safety (firefighter positions, new police officers, public safety pay plan, capital), 0.4 cents to public schools (additional $1.2 million ongoing), and 0.4 cents to affordable housing (first-ever dedicated stream of $1.2 million). The personal property tax rate is recommended to be restored to pre-pandemic 4.28 cents per $100 valuation (a two-step process completed).
Key Investments:
- Public Safety: 57 firefighter positions hired through federal grants will be transitioned to local funding; 6 new police officers (the most added in a single year since FY16). A consultant study on staffing models is underway.
- Human Services: $1.6 million for 26 programs (a 31% increase of $385,000), including Loaves and Fishes, Hoteach (shelter), and Ready Kids (mental health).
- Community Services: $12.5 million for regional jail renovation, juvenile detention, SPCA, emergency communications, and crime control.
- Public Works & Transit: $2.9 million for solid waste; $7.7 million for transit partnerships (CAT, MicroCAT, Jaunt, regional transit authority).
- Schools: $14.3 million ongoing operational increase (7.3%) plus $6.2 million one-time for employee health fund. Commitment to three new schools.
- Affordable Housing: Total $4.2 million: $3 million one-time plus $1.2 million ongoing from the tax increase. The county has invested $17.7 million in affordable housing from FY21-24.
- Economic Development: $1 million in the economic development opportunity fund; continued support for Rivanna Futures (462 acres, $58 million acquisition, potential $1.1 billion annual economic activity) and Project Enable 2.0.
- Workforce Support: $3.5 million for 3% market adjustment for non-sworn employees and 2% step adjustment for public safety; $9 million additional into healthcare fund (including $6.2 million for schools' health costs); opened first employee health clinic (99 visits in first two weeks, all Saturday slots filled).
- Cost Savings: 11.7 county government positions eliminated through reengineering; departments identified $500,000 annual savings (total $1 million over FY25-26).
Capital Improvements (FY26-30): $128.5 million for local government (Rivanna Futures, transportation, Northern Convenience Center, central library renovations, athletic fields, urban pocket park, school renovations and new schools). Schools' CIP: $189.6 million.
Board Questions and Comments:
- Supervisor Rudolph asked clarifying questions about the $9 million healthcare figure (includes $6.2M for schools), revenue growth assumptions, and the rationale for adding six police officers now. He suggested linking new investments to strategic plan performance (SPER) metrics.
- Supervisor McDowell highlighted the need to control expenditures to benefit residential taxpayers, praised capital investments, and requested inclusion of federal workforce programs in discussions.
- Supervisor Pruitt emphasized the March 19 tax rate advertisement deadline as a key decision point, noted that real property assessment growth is driven by single-family homes (multifamily declining), and reiterated commitment to $10 million annual housing trust fund. He explored tax diversification options (TOT increase, machinery and tools tax) and inquired about housing trust fund status (nearly depleted after $2.6 million last year). He also noted federal funding threats to schools (2-3% of their budget) and requested a briefing on progressive elements of personal property tax.
- Supervisor Galloway expressed support for the budget, questioned how many affordable homes have been built and are in the pipeline, supported tax diversification (TOT, meals tax, plastic bag tax), expressed concern about federal/state revenue stability, and called for increased school renovation funding.
- Supervisor McKee thanked staff, addressed the need for firefighters due to volunteer declines and rising call volumes, noted climate and environment were not mentioned (County Executive Richardson said those goals will be detailed in work sessions), requested clarity on the 54% schools/36% county/10% capital split, and asked about the impact of transit (Coldwood Collective Marketing) on the budget. She also raised concerns about federal funding impacts and the budget stabilization fund ($10-11 million). She suggested discussing the impact of daytime commuters on services and endorsed a potential one-cent sales tax referendum for school capital (would generate $25 million annually).
- Supervisor Andrews noted a cost of service study coming March 5, requested a comprehensive look at all housing-related budget items and climate action plan funding, and advocated for keeping the ARPA (366) fund for emergencies.
- Supervisor Puritt (additional) requested a list of unfunded departmental requests (similar to last year's cutting room floor document) and a clear metric for evaluating police officer additions (response times).
Next Steps: The budget process includes eight work sessions and 16 public meetings (town halls), with a final adoption target of May 7, 2025. Questions from the board will be answered in small batches and published on the county website.

Key Outcomes

The County Executive recommended a four-cent real property tax increase (from 85.4 to 89.4 cents) dedicated 3.2 cents to public safety, 0.4 cents to schools, and 0.4 cents to affordable housing. Personal property tax rate to be restored to 4.28 cents.
The recommended general fund budget is $480.5 million, a 9.7% increase year-over-year.
The Board did not take any votes; the presentation was for discussion and to set the stage for upcoming work sessions.
The next meeting is scheduled for March 5, 2025, at 1:00 PM in Lane Auditorium.

Meeting Transcript

Please call to order this meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on the 26th of February at noon at room 241 in the Albama County Office Building Tax Air Build. Notice David, we have Supervisor Mike Rudolph Scott, Scotchville District, Supervisor G. District, Supervisor Anthony Kill of Jack Jewett District, Supervisor Ned Galloway of the Rio District, Supervisor Ann Malik of the Whitehall District, and myself, Chimandries representing the Samuel Miller district, forums present. We're also joined by our county executive, Mr. Jeff Richardson, our deputy county executives, Mr. Trevor Annie, law, our chief financial officer, James, our chief operating officer, Christie Shiffler. I also want to welcome here. I believe we have Albemar County Police Officers Present Officers Roxanne Kine and Stephen McCall. We thank you for your service today and every day on behalf of the citizens of residents of Albemarle County. Appreciate what you do for our safety and security. With that, we will turn it over to Mr. Richardson who will be presenting the 2526 recommended budget. Welcome. Mr. Chair, thank you very much. And board members, thank you. Thank you for the your time today. Not only today, but as you know, we've been working in earnest really since we uh put the last year's budget to bed. Uh we started talking uh as recently as July or as far back as July, and we've worked our way through this year, and now we're at that point. I'd also like to welcome our community that's here today, either in person or listening online. Thank you for your interest in Albemar County government. We appreciate your uh leaning in hard and connecting uh as today we talk about uh our recommended budget. I also see key partner agencies in the room. Uh, thank you for being here today, certainly our schools uh where we are attached at the hip uh on a day-to-day basis, and we appreciate everything that they do uh to make our community better. Uh Mr. Chair, thank you for recognizing the the staff across the front row. I won't go back through, but we also have our budget team here today that has been working the entire year to get us to where we are, as well as our department heads uh who are connected, connected and hard. At the end of today's presentation, I'm going to talk about what's next. And uh I've got 36 slides that I will share with you today and walk you through the manager's recommended budget. But but you'll see at the end of the meeting today, at least 16 opportunities. 16 opportunities with 16 public meetings. That's that's what we know for sure at this time. That's where we will invite our public in to listen, to learn, and to share at times their thoughts on this recommended budget. This board leans in hard during the budget process with a number of dedicated work sessions, uh, looking more closely at what this budget offers, what's left out, and the board does a great job every year of asking questions and keeping staff on their toes. So, with that, we'll start today. And again, I appreciate the opportunity to be here in my eighth year as county executive. It is an honor to serve this community. So uh today's agenda. Here's an overview of what I'll be covering today. Uh, the first part really the strategic budgeting, it's how we approach budget development with an eye on our strategic plan. The second part of the agenda is the trends, the drivers that we're seeing in our local economy combined with our revenues, our obligations, and we'll talk a little bit more about that. The third part is key investments, and that's recommendations for initiatives and strategies as we go forward into next fiscal year. And then finally, the fourth part will be next step wrap-up, making sure that the board and our community understands that today is really just the beginning of this process. It lasts for several months. Uh, and we're going to land this budget uh uh we hope on May the 7th this year. So we're looking forward to the work that we have ahead of us with the board and with our community. So, first part, strategic budgeting. Let's take a closer look at what we consider when we say strategic budgeting. I really like this slide. And the reason that I like this slide is that I think that it represents lenses, and I'll use that term a lot today, lenses.

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